Chris Soda is a 15-year member of the Chicago Fire Department (CFD), where he currently is assigned to Engine Company 96 in the city’s Austin neighborhood. He teaches at Northeastern Illinois Public Safety Training Academy, where he is the program coordinator for the Vehicle & Machinery Operations and Vehicle & Machinery Technician programs. Soda also has been an instructor for the CFD’s Quinn Fire Academy, teaching candidate firefighter’s vehicle extrication. He is the owner of Junk Yard Dog Extrication Training, where he teaches emergency response to electric vehicles.